the Church (d. 1787) Mary and Alphonsus Liguori smiled at each other as the saint was dying Saint Alphonsus Liguori is the author of The Glories of Mary, published in 1750, which was a bestseller right from [...] the person and life of the Virgin Mary, explains Marian spirituality, and includes prayers of the saints and some popular devotions. Its author ends each chapter with an edifying "example", generally the [...] the account of an apparition or a miracle - about 40 in all. The intention is to show the role of the Virgin in the Church and among the faithful, without providing a historical criticism of the facts
Cana; she encourages the disciples in the Upper Room… Mary is a cure for solitude and dispersion. She is the Mother of con-solation: she stands “with” those who are “alone”. She knows that words are not [...] write the third secret of Fatima (1944) Mary can relieve loneliness and breakdown of our social life In today’s fragmented world, where we risk losing our bearings, a Mother’s embrace is essential. How much [...] is present as a mother. Let us allow her to embrace our lives. In the Salve Regina, we call her “our life”. This may seem exaggerated, for Christ himself is “life” (cf. Jn 14:6), yet Mary is so closely
the group of Christians, singing and carrying the Virgin Mary on a pillar which they set on the ground beside the apostle. Mary then addressed him: "My son, this place is now marked and set aside to honor [...] the year 40 A.D., the Virgin appeared in Zaragoza to comfort the apostle Saint James and the seven first Iberian Christians, who were struggling to implant the faith in Spain. At that time, Mary had not yet [...] and was still living in Jerusalem with the Apostle John. That day, James was planning to announce his upcoming return to Palestine. The night sky suddenly lit up and a multitude of angels appeared to the
are embraced in the feminine heart of Mary, the keystone of the heavenly city. Mary's holiness, a treasure of charity towards God and neighbor, is associated with her virginity, the exclusive gift of self [...] es to an "eminent and singular" degree (Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, §63). Mary's fullness of grace is a requisite fact of faith; moreover, her virginity, the first fruits of the New Covenant [...] April 15 - Our Lady of Kiev (Ukraine) Mary's feminine heart, keystone of the heavenly city The redeeming love of Christ sustains the fidelity of those who have received, like the sovereign Virgin, the
his full glory, which must have represented a form of trial for her, "a particular heaviness of heart, linked with a sort of night of faith." ( Redemptoris Mater 17) The Transfiguration places Jesus in [...] (Italy) The Transfiguration in the Life of the Virgin Mary The fact that Mary was absent at the Transfiguration does not mean that she never had a glimpse of Jesus’ glory before his resurrection. As we [...] 2:11) However, Mary was mostly removed from public life. She knew, from the time that she conceived, that Jesus was from on high, but throughout her pilgrimage of faith, we can say that Mary did not see his
- Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153) Mary dispenses her graces to her children endlessly and abundantly Let no one speak of your tenderness (O Virgin Mary) if a single person who ever invoked it in times [...] known and widespread for us to pass over them in the interest of brevity. It is necessary to know with all certainty that the very frequent miracles, the innumerable benefits, the spiritual visions, the
care for their families and children, as she lived in close union with her Son and husband. Mary's love is the love of a mother for us her children and the love of Jesus' mother for her Son. It's the pure [...] April 25 - Our Lady of Good Counsel (Italy, Genazzano, 1476) Mary Our Mother of Love Needless to say, Our Lady is the mother of humankind and she particularly favors mothers and those who live and care
had to build her a shrine on the spot she had chosen. They called her Portaitissa , meaning Gatekeeper. Let’s fast forward a few centuries. On the same Mount Athos, around 1980, in a hermitage dedicated [...] opened its doors. The first icon produced there was a replica of the Portaitissa . That day, a Chilean convert to Orthodoxy named José Munos, who was a professor of art history in Montreal, went to Mount [...] Athos near the monastery of Iviron (Greece). It depicted the Virgin Mary holding up the Child Jesus in majesty on one arm and, with the other hand, designating Him as "the Way, the Truth and the Life."
enter into the light of the covenantal attitude and into a prayer of trust that we receive everything from the living God. Elijah is depicted with a sword because he killed the prophets who sought to harness [...] spoke to him in a gentle breeze, and showed him his successor, Elisha. In the Middle Ages, some Christian hermits came to pray in this place and built a small church in honor of the Virgin Mary. The number [...] Teresa of Avila and St.John of the Cross in the 16th century. These two saints had a special love for the Virgin Mary and for St. Joseph. Hermits returned to the caves of Mount Carmel in 1634 and the shrine
garment is a blue dress belted with a white drawstring at the waist that symbolizes the doves of peace. Before being worn, the whole outfit must receive the blessing of a priest. For Maha, a 45-year-old [...] pray to Mary, we lose our identity Since the recent war against Isis, more and more women in Syria—grandmothers, young mothers, and girls—have been wearing a piece of clothing known as “Mary’s dress” during [...] eastern families. This is even truer when the mother is the Virgin Mary. If we forget to pray, we lose our identity." "Mary suffered too as a mother. She accepted to lose her son, Christ, by embracing the
